Transcript Functional relationships

What is Science?
Science – set of practices and methods to obtain
____________. Its primary aim is to find order and
lawful relations (____________) in the world, called
functional relationships
Functional relationships = predictable _________ between
environmental events, i.e., ________ relationships
e.g., there is a relationship between the temperature of a
gas and its volume.
Goal of behavioral research is to identify the functional
relations between__________ events and ______
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Examples of functional
relationships related to behavior:
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Functional relationship between a rat’s frequency of lever
pressing and the consequences of lever pressing: a food
pellet is delivered to a rat after it presses a lever, lever
pressing will increase in frequency
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Functional relationship between goal-setting and athletic
performance: an athlete who sets short-term goals before
a sports event performs better than without setting goals
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Functional relationship between alcohol use and risk
taking: a person who consumes high alcohol does is
more likely to take risks than when they consume no
alcohol.
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Purposes of Science
1. ___________
2. ___________
3. ___________ (Control)
4. ___________
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Methods of inquiry: Ways of gaining
information
1. _____________ – believe information from
authorities/ experts (method of faith –
people have unquestioning trust in authority
figures)
2. ________________ – information is
accepted on the basis of a hunch or beliefs
(not a valid method)
3. ___________ – persistence of belief based
on habit, superstition (not a valid method)
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Methods of inquiry: Ways of
gaining information
4. Rationalism (________ method) –
reasoning or logic, premises must be
correct
5. ____________ – gaining knowledge
through _________ & ___________, not
fail-proof, therefore observations should
occur in a structured way to avoid biases
e.g., availability heuristic, confirmation bias - see
http://www.caveofmagic.com/pickcrd2.htm
Science emphasizes 4 and 5
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Primary characteristics of science:
1. ______________
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Events have knowable causes
We must assume that behavior is caused by
identifiable variables.
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Primary characteristics of science:
2. _______________
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
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Observations are structured so that
researcher’s _______ (experimenter bias)
doesn’t influence the study’s outcomes
Emphasis on _________ events
Observations should be verifiable by others –
that is, others should be able to _______ or
repeat observation
Events, procedures should be defined
precisely (Requires operational definitions)
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Primary characteristics of science:
3.
Data-driven (_____________)

4.
Conclusions about behavior are to be supported
by evidence gathered through systematic
methods
Conclusions subject to __________
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Conclusions are tentative
Often see conclusions altered as new
discoveries are made
 Science requires patience
 Science is a self-correcting process
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Primary characteristics of science:
5. Empirical questions
•
Questions are asked in a way that can be
answered by ____________
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Which of the following questions could be tested
scientifically? Can you rewrite these questions
to make them more precise?
1.
2.
3.
4.
Does caffeine make people anxious?
Do infants dream?
Is psychotherapy more beneficial than psychiatric
medication?
Do college students consume more beer than
other age groups?
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Does caffeine make people anxious?

This question is testable but it needs to be more
precise. Is the dosage of caffeine critical? Does the
same dosage of caffeine affect some people but not
others? What is anxiety? Research questions in
psychology must be stated in very specific terms so
that they can be interpreted objectively and so that
other researchers can ask the same question and
replicate the study.
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Do infants dream?

This question is not testable because we do not
know what the infant experiences in his or her mind
when asleep. But one solution is to look for
behaviors and physical signs that indicate dreaming
in adults and then see whether they also occur in
infants, e.g., REM sleep
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Is psychotherapy more beneficial than
psychiatric medication?
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This question is testable but is too general. What type of
psychotherapy? What type of psychiatric disorder? What
type and dosage of medication? A better question would
be, "Do mildly depressed women, as assessed on the
Beck Depression Inventory, improve more after 4 months
of cognitive therapy or 4 months of Prozac?" Studies in
psychology set out to answer tightly defined questions.
Sweeping, all-or-none claims, such as therapy is better
than psychiatric medication, are rarely warranted.
Instead, psychology sets out to determine under what
conditions therapy, medication, or a combination of the
two are better for the treatment of particular symptoms
and disorders.
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Do college students consume more beer
than other age groups?

This question is testable but needs to be more
precise. What age of college students and what are
the comparison age groups? Under what conditions?
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